[SOLVED] Can't boot into Windows, or Recovery Media

[harvesterm]

Hi All,


I'm having a nightmare with a ~6 month old self-build. The last person to use the PC a couple days ago tells me it crashes (unfortunately no more details than that), and when I went to boot it up this morning I found it booting into the BIOS directly everytime. After some playing around it booted past that and gave the "insert boot media" error. I've had this a few times in the past and usually been able to fix it pretty quickly, but no luck this time.

I then tried the Windows 10 install DVD to try and repair the installation. This loads up but then sticks on the logo screen and the wheel keeps going. Eventually it goes to a black screen and then nothing. Thinking it was maybe the DVD, I went out and bought a new USB drive and set that up but it was exactly the same, and this is essentially where I still am.

Tried the following troubleshooting (not in order):

• Checked boot order
• Removed all non-essential hard driver
• Updated the BIOS
• Reset the CMOS (after not booting from the BIOS update)
• Changed cable and port for the hard drive

I'm now about to try a USB recovery drive loaded through Rufus, but after that I'm all out of ideas. It's the most troubleshooting I've done in years...!

Please help!


Thanks in advance

 

[mdd1963]

Does the OS drive at least still appear in the BIOS? (Presumably so, since you played with boot order/priority) And if booting from Windows install media, and selecting custom install, does the current drive show as a valid install destination, with all of it's space? (If there is nothing you critically need from it, and if the current install and data is expendable, try deleting partition, full fresh reinstall....; of course, if the drive has failed, this might be unsuccessful as well))

Do you have a spare drive, SSD or spinner (if necessary), just in case your current drive has failed?

 

[harvesterm]

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

Yes the drive still appears in the bios so I'm hoping it's still fine. I'm not sure of a way to confirm without windows?

Unfortunately the recovery gets stuck before even getting to options of doing anything. It just hangs on the loading part.

At this point I'd happily reformat but I just don't have the option. Even with a different drive it'd be the same, that said I haven't tried it without the os disk plugged in yet so I'll give that a go and have another drive plugged in.

Rufus didn't make a difference.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Likely you need an operating system reinstall. Try pressing f8 when your pc boots. You can use windows install media tool from Microsofts website. This gives you an option to repair your pc.

 

[harvesterm]

Hey,


I've been trying that all day in different permutations (dvd, USB, rufus etc) and I can't even get to the point where I'd be able to reinstall.

It seems like it must be something beyond a hard drive issue?

Likely you need an operating system reinstall. Try pressing f8 when your pc boots. You can use windows install media tool from Microsofts website. This gives you an option to repair your pc.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Yup, you probably have a dead HDD or a need an os reinstall. Use a usb windows install drive and set the usb drive to the top of boot order.
https://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-quickly-set-up-a-new-gaming-pc-with-windows-10/ Heres some detailed install steps
If the installer doesn't see the HDD it's probably dead.

 

[harvesterm]

Yup, you probably have a dead HDD or a need an os reinstall. Use a usb windows install drive and set the usb drive to the top of boot order.
https://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-quickly-set-up-a-new-gaming-pc-with-windows-10/ Heres some detailed install steps
If the installer doesn't see the HDD it's probably dead.

Hey, possibly wasn't clear but the problem I'm having is that I can't reinstall. I've tried the dvd and USB to reinstall already but can't get past the initial logo when it first goes to load up. That's where it always hangs.

Seems unlikely that it's the HDD.

 

[harvesterm]

Does the OS drive at least still appear in the BIOS? (Presumably so, since you played with boot order/priority) And if booting from Windows install media, and selecting custom install, does the current drive show as a valid install destination, with all of it's space? (If there is nothing you critically need from it, and if the current install and data is expendable, try deleting partition, full fresh reinstall....; of course, if the drive has failed, this might be unsuccessful as well))

Do you have a spare drive, SSD or spinner (if necessary), just in case your current drive has failed?

So I tried booting into the recovery disk without my OS drive plugged in and it loaded up straightaway. If I plug the ssd in then the recovery mode just freezes up. I guess this is a faulty hard drive?

Is there any way to check the hard drive without a windows installation?

The ssd is around 5.5yrs old but I guess I just expected it to last longer...

 

[NightHawkRMX]

What model ssd is it? It may have a warrenty, although i think most samsung drives have a 5 year warrenty.
I would try potentially plugging the ssd into another computer as a secondary drive. Id Boot the computer from a different drive and see if the ssd shows up in windows. There is some ways to revive an ssd is you can get it into a working pc.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Anyhow new ssd pricing has come down alot so replacing the drive should be painless.
120gb ssd~$19
240gb ssd~$29
500gb ssd~$49
1tb ssd~$150